


On Every Page

by bearbaitbrook



Series: On Every Page [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Editor Betty Cooper, F/M, Protective Jughead Jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27260095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearbaitbrook/pseuds/bearbaitbrook
Summary: "What?" Jughead asked. "I can't leave until Trev has those done. And I have plans tonight that I would like to be on time for.""Archie's dog?" Betty asked with a slight laugh."Yeah, something like that. Any plans for your weekend?""Spending time with someone I haven't seen enough of lately," she said vaguely, turning back to her work."Well, he's a lucky guy." He turned away with a wave and headed out the door, mind on the hot dog stand down the street from their office building. He missed the blush that spread through Betty's face at his comment.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: On Every Page [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1993057
Comments: 11
Kudos: 82
Collections: 8th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	On Every Page

The office of On Every Page was empty when Jughead Jones, head editor, stepped into his office on Friday morning. This week had dragged by, and he was exceedingly glad that his weekend he had no plans other than lounging in his pajamas, and working on his novel, curled up on a couch with a movie in the background.

"Coffee," he mumbled, fumbling out of his coat. He straightened the tie he wore over a light blue button up shirt and jeans and then headed straight for the nectar of the gods in the breakroom.

He had been the head editor at On Every Page for the past five years. There was a bit more people micro managing than he would prefer, but he did appreciate the financial comfort and security the job provided, as well as the opportunity it gave him to discover up and coming authors like himself.

"Oh - good morning Jughead!" Jughead jumped as he entered the breakroom and almost dropped his coffee cup. He thought he was the only person in the office.

"Morning Ethel," he said, trying to restart his heart. He crossed to the coffee pot and filled his cup.

He had hoped that Ethel would carry on with her business, but he had no such luck.

"Any fun plans this weekend?"

"No - not really."

"Oh, good! Some of us are going out for drinks after work today, you should come! You have ditched the last few, you know." She smiled at him and Jughead began to panic, feeling like a deer in the headlights. Ethel Muggs had worked underneath Jug almost since he joined the company, and she always flirted with him incessantly, never grasping his kind attempts to let her down gently.

"Oh, um… sorry Ethel I can't."

"Why? I thought you just said you weren't doing anything his weekend?"

"I… umm… I…" It was too early to do this, especially without coffee, and Jughead's mind went blank.

"He's dog sitting for his friend Archie tonight," a voice from behind Jughead stated. Jughead turned and gave his savior a grateful look. It was Betty Cooper, On Every Page's newest hire. She continued. "Right Jug? I think I remember you saying that you were dog sitting for your friend and the dog has separation anxiety and won't stay quiet if it's by itself so you have to stay in tonight?"

"You're right, Betty, I did. Sorry Ethel. Maybe next time." He left the room and headed back to his office, closing the door before Ethel could try to poke any more holes in his story.

Betty might have only been at On Every Page for six months, but she quickly became one of their most valuable employees. She was a ruthless editor, but somehow managed to deliver the harshest criticism with a sweet smile and kind eyes that left their authors tripping over themselves to make changes, just to please her. She was efficient and thorough and made an amazing cup of coffee - the only person who came close to making it strong enough for his liking.

They had quickly developed a friendship as they downed cups of coffee over manuscripts and exchanged clever emails regarding the latest authors the company was considering signing. Jughead also couldn't deny that she was insanely attractive, especially in the pencil skirts she was partial to that showed off her mile long legs.

In the beginning, there had been vicious rumors that they were sleeping together, that Betty was screwing her boss to get ahead. But six months down the road, those rumors faded away as she worked to develop a name and a spotless reputation for herself within the company. Not even the most jealous employee could fault Betty for how quickly she advanced from reading and selecting manuscripts already destined for the reject pile to one of the head editors who worked with the biggest name authors.

Someone knocked on the door and Jughead opened it.

"Hey, Betty. Come on in."

"I have that manuscript you wanted me to look over." They might be friends during their breaks, but Betty was all business when she was on the clock.

"And?"

"I think it has promise. I think you should read it over though. I'm still a bit undecided."

"Betty, I trust your judgement. If you say we should go for it, we'll go for it." 

"I'd still really like you to read this one over. I really can't make a decision. Besides, you might enjoy the plot of this one, even if you don't think we should publish it."

"Ok, fine," he relented. "Can I give you a few of these manuscripts that have landed on my desk for today though? As a trade off?"

"Absolutely." She grabbed them off his desk and marched out of his office, shutting the door firmly behind her.

He grabbed the manuscript and skimmed through a few pages. It looked promising, although it was a romance novel, complete with a forbidden relationship between boss and employee, disguised as a mystery - something they normally didn't publish. Still, the characters seemed well developed and the plot was enticing. It reminded him of something.

Retreating to his desk, he kicked his feet up, coffee in hand and lost himself in the manuscript.

By the time he emerged from his office it was past his normal lunchtime and he was starving. He grumbled in annoyance as his stomach growled, but decided to make a pit stop by Betty's desk first. Trev Brown, another editor who had been with the company for a little over a year, had beaten him to it and was talking animatedly with Betty.

"So anyway, Betty, what do you say to us going to grab dinner sometime?" Trev asked as Jughead approached.

"Like, a date?" Betty clarified, tone colored with surprise.

"Yes."

"Hey Betty!" Jughead interrupted. "Just finished this. I say we go for it." He held up the manuscript she had given his earlier and smiled.

"Ok, good," she replied, Trev all but forgotten. "I'll get information sent out."

"Hey, Trev," Jughead added as an after thought. "Have you looked at the chapters on your desk? I need those by the day."

"Yeah, just in the middle of it now. I'll get back to it, I guess. See you later, Betty."

Betty's eyes sparkled at Jughead, matching the smirk on her face.

"What?" Jughead asked. "I can't leave until Trev has those done. And I have plans tonight that I would like to be on time for."

"Archie's dog?" Betty asked with a slight laugh.

"Yeah, something like that. Any plans for your weekend?"

"Spending time with someone I haven't seen enough of lately," she said vaguely, turning back to her work.

"Well, he's a lucky guy." He turned away with a wave and headed out the door, mind on the hot dog stand down the street from their office building. He missed the blush that spread through Betty's face at his comment.

Hours later, Jughead sighed, tired eyes migrating towards the clock above his door. It was just shy of 7 pm -Trev apparently hadn't been as far along on his work as it had sounded like, meaning that Jughead was just leaving work on a Friday night. He cursed Trev as he shut down his computer and stuffed his arms in his jacket, walking out of his office door and heading towards the elevator.

Stepping off of the elevator and walking out the for, he pulled his beanie down over his ears, hoping to block out the chill that had overtaken the New York City streets. Snow flakes were just beginning to drift lazily towards the ground and he knew that before long, the city would be transformed into a winter wonderland.

He hurried toward the subway and headed towards Brooklyn, whiling away the minutes until his tie could come off and until he could relax. As he made his way above ground again and began the last trek towards his destination, he stopped at a small bodega, grabbing a loaf of Italian bread and a bottle of wine before continuing on.

"Hey - come on up!" a sweet voice said as he buzzed to be let into a well-kept looking brick apartment building. The voice was quickly becoming one of his favorites.

He knocked on the door of apartment 4B, and it opened to a blond vision dressed in an S t-shirt and a pair of flannel pajama bottoms.

"No dogs here, wrong apartment," Betty joked as she opened her door.

She stood back to let him in, taking the wine and bread from his hand. "Thanks for grabbing this."

"You're welcome, Betts," he said, walking into her apartment and closing the door behind him. He shook the snow off of his coat -it was coming down faster now - and stepped out of his shoes and then grabbed her hand and pulled her close, kissing her soundly.

"Mmmm today was way too long. I didn't get to do this once. You didn't take enough solo coffee breaks today - I didn't get any opportunities to ravage you in the breakroom."

"Well if you'd been here at five when planned you would have gotten to do it sooner!"

"Sorry," he said, grinning sheepishly. "Maybe if Trev had spent more time doing the work I pay him to do and less time flirting with you, I wouldn't be waiting on his work before I could leave."

"That's true - you know, he's tried asking me out like five times. Today was the first day he didn't completely get interrupted by you in the process."

"What can I say? I like having you all to myself," Jughead said with a shrug, not looking the least bit guilty. "Although between Ethel and Trev…"

"I think Ethel's catching on to us… every time I tried to give you an opportunity to ravage me in the breakroom she decided that she just had to have coffee too. And the rumors states up again…"

"Rumors?" Jughead looked concerned, smile falling off of his face.

"Same as before… that I'm screwing you to get a promotion."

"That is such bullshit," he responded, absolutely furious. "Anyone who knows anything about you should know better than that."

"Just ignore it," she soothed. "I do. We know they're wrong, and HR is involved like they should be. We've covered our bases. Now go change and meet me on the couch. I have  _ The Good Place  _ qued up."

Jughead stepped into her bedroom and pulled a tshirt and sweats, similar to hers, out of the drawer recently cleared out as his on the nights he slept over - which was most nights. There was a small framed picture of the two of them sitting on her night stand, taken on their second or third date well over six months ago. Their editing company did not have a policy against employee relationships - it didn't even have a policy that prevented Jughead and Betty from being together, despite the power imbalance that existed, as long as they disclosed their relationship to HR and turned to a third party when it came to potential promotions that might come Betty's way. Still, they had chosen to keep it a secret from their coworkers for as long as they could. Betty was still relatively new, and she didn't want to be seen as the girl who was screwing her boss to get ahead, even though it was the farthest thing from the truth. Jughead could respect that- where he as a man would get a slap on the back, Betty would become the office outcast, which was the last thing he wanted for her. Sighing, he draped his button up shirt and khakis neatly over a chair and then exited and headed towards the couch where Betty was sitting primly waiting for him. 

She handed him a bowl of pasta and a fork and then sat back, but she wasn't close enough for his taste, so he scooped her legs up over his lap and nestled in beside her, letting her body heat warm him in a way that no blanket could ever accomplish.

"Hi baby," he whispered, running a hand along her legs, taking a moment to appreciate that he, Jughead Jones and not Trev Brown, was with Betty Cooper.

"You good?" Betty asked. She nodded at the tv, asking permission to push play on the episode.

Snowflakes were lazily drifting down outside and while the weekend promised to be cold, his weekend plans pertained more to being wrapped up in Betty than in braving the elements. They might only be six months in, but Jughead could easily see himself spending the next fifty years of his life in this scene.

"I'm good, Betts. I'm so good."

**Author's Note:**

> Oops I did it again! I thought this was going to be a one shot and then I had a million more ideas for this universe right after I put the final period, so be on the lookout for more in the On Every Page world!


End file.
